The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1887-12-13
"A DELrNoUENT ELEPHANr.
"A Sight at the Palace of BTandalay
Ii ga Beast In Disgrace.


5j Il GA Reast In Disgrace.
/ 80 Eg FusNa s,i
Many We're the sights I witnessed in
and out Of the palace OF Mandalay. but
nothing struck my attention SO much
as the number Of trained elephants,
lately belonging to the deposed mon-
arch, and the splendid quarters in
which they were located,.an my SUR
prise swas still more increased when /
was introduced to and entered into
conversation with the gentleman who
presided over this extensive establish
& ment. He turned out to be u real
{. native of the Isle. OF Wight. The,white
or lnouse-colored, elephant was there OF
course, but show are the mighty fall
len, = He was no longer in a magnifl-
cent pavilion, alone In. his grandeur,
surrounded by many seryitors Of the
king; on the contrary, he was in a stsll
like the rest Of the beasts, and, IL any
thing; less noticed than many 81, his
finer brethren. ss 1 aa
One more anecdote about this won
derful beast, and L have done with ele-
s-phants. Shortly before our arrival one
Eof these animals had greatly disgraced
himself by refusing to carry certain
weight Of goods which had been piled
on his back. There is theSregulation
weight, and the beasts know to an
ounce What they ought to carry, and if
any one OF the mahouts attempt to put
q surplus amount on his or their backs
it is Immediately shot on to the ground.
The animal in question had been duly
laden with a weight which was under
the regulation scale; but although it
had been twice weighed, as Mrs. Camp
would say, before his own, eyes, he still
refused to carry 1t. This was too much
for even his indulgent driver, so lie ac-
;cordingly reported, aid ius. as we ar
rived he was about to be tried for his
extraordinary and obstinate conduct
Several elephants were led out into a
large. courtyard, forming Kind Of cir
cle round the delinquent, who seemed
already to feel his position acutely, for
she glanced anxiously from time to time
at his mahout, who was visibly affected
and who stood at his head. A karen
presided over the court-martial and
read aloud the Indictment against the
offender, the elephants Which constitut-
ed the jury apparently listening with
great attention. After. the statement
was finished aud the malout examined,
who, by the way, gave his evidence
with greaS relucta ailce, the karell decid2s
ed that the case had been distinctly
proved and the culprit was adjudged
the punishment of twenty strokes.
Upon the announcement of the verdict
the jury marched in u most solemn
manner to % distant tpart of the yard
Aid returned with aSsWitcll about as
large as a fair sized scaffold pole. In
the meantime the mahout had been ad-
dressing the offender, who was now
weeping, ,copiously, large drops OF tears
falling from his eyes, and occasionally
q shrill and peculiar sound issued from
his capacious throat.
The eXecutioners Of tho law were at
hand and stood about twelve to four
rtCCA AcCO dpitI0, ctlCu OalaNclnR WIN
peculiar nicely in his trunk, the afore-
said switch. The culprit was LED UP to
the place, and as he passed humber one
there was Il sound heard which resem-
bled somewhat a sharp clap of, thunder;
it was the first BLOW delivered by the
dread myrmidons of the law. The
blow was followed by sharp, shrlll
scream, although there was evidently
an attempt Oh the part of the culprit to
suppress any exhibition of pain. This
punishment continued until the whole
of the sentence had been carried out.
Although felt considerable sympathy
with the unfortunate delinquent, 1 was
lat the same time intensely amused with
the thorough business like air with
which these ministers Of justice carried
out the sentence. There were no light
blows delivered; but, as a matter Of
fact, each elephant determined to ad-
minister a heavier amount Of punish
ment than his neighbor, and the sly
twinkle in the eye as the blow was de-
livered was a sight to see.
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